July 2nd, 2019 Mortgage Industry Update

The Bank of Canada announced on May 29th that it’s overnight lending rate will remain at 1.75%. The prime rate remains 3.95%. The common prediction currently stands that the Bank of Canada will likely keep rates consistent for the remainder of 2019.

Additionally this week:– Better Dwelling: Housing data between January 2000 and March 2019 reveals that Vancouver’s home prices grew 316%; more than major US cities – New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle. Toronto grew by 240%; also more than all the same listed US cities.

– BILD: 4,794 new home sales in May, up 94% annually (highest number for May since 2002), 27% above 10-year average. 4,574 single-family homes available on market, compared to 12,537 condos. 1,004 new single-family home sales, representing 211% year-over-year increase.

– Statistics Canada:Residential construction sector led gains for overall Canadian construction investment in April; 3.6% increase took investment to $10.6B for the month, while non-residential sector gained 0.3% to $4.7B. Total investment in Canadian construction up 2.6% to $14.8B.

– Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions: Canada’s HELOC loan balance reached a historic high in April, passing the $300B mark for the first time (now at $300.93B); growing by 0.44% from March and by 7.56% from April 2018.

– Statistics Canada: Annual pace of inflation picked up in May as consumer price index rose 2.4% compared with a year ago; largest increase since October 2018. Compared with 2.0% increase in April and was the fourth straight month of rising year-over-year increases.

– Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index: Canadian home prices went up by 0.5% on a month-over-month basis in May; first time in nine months. Increases were observed in 9 out of 11 metropolitan markets analyzed.

Stay tuned for the next update!

For any questions and concerns please do not hesitate to call Harpreet Singh The Mortgage King at (416) 795-1919.